


Blue Brothers

by AWildBenAppeared



Series: When You Can Finally Stop Running [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adoption, Brother antics, Brothers, Canon Divergent, F/M, Family, Fluff, Found Family, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Movie AU, Movie Plot Deviations, Movie Retelling, Profanity, Road Trip, Sonic Gets The Hug He Deserved, Sonic The Hedgehog OC, Sonic the Hedgehog AU - Freeform, abuse mention in chapter 5, cursing, first fic, sibling relationships, wachowski found family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:00:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22779091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AWildBenAppeared/pseuds/AWildBenAppeared
Summary: Jack Wachowski had a pretty normal life. That is, until his dad shot a blue hedgehog with a tranquilizer, jump starting the craziest road trip he’s ever been on, filled with insane scientists, killer robots, and magic rings.Or, instead of just gaining a mom and a dad, Sonic gets a brother too.
Relationships: Maddie Wachowski/Tom Wachowski
Series: When You Can Finally Stop Running [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1637635
Comments: 28
Kudos: 183





	1. A Calm Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I started this fic just after I saw the movie, if you remember. I recently got a beta and we made edits to chapter 1 and 2. Hope you enjoy!

Jack loved living in Green Hills most days.

Sure, the town was small, and not much happened, but to Jack, that was a good thing. After years of moving from place to place, a bit of quiet was all he needed. He’d fallen into a normal routine, something he hadn’t had most of his life. Not to mention friends. He hadn’t had those before he lived in Green Hills. Moving from family to family made having friends…..difficult, to say the least of it. Here, at least he had Wes. 

And a family. 

Four years ago, Jack wouldn’t have thought he’d have a family. He’d convinced himself that he’d never get adopted. It was the younger kids that got adopted, not the older ones. He never thought he’d actually have parents, let alone ones as great as Maddie and Tom. 

It was rocky at first. He didn’t trust them at all when they first began fostering him. He ran off a couple times, trying to speed up what he had deemed the inevitable. 

However with time, and a lot of patience on his parents’ part, he warmed up to them. He began to trust them. He became less afraid. He stopped running. Life became calm, something it never was before. He felt accepted and loved, even if he didn’t always show it. 

Yes, Jack loved living in Green Hills.

_ Most  _ days.

* * *

“‘Take Your Kid to Work Day’ is so stupid.”

Jack watched his adoptive father turn to him with an almost apologetic look. “I did tell you could've gone with your mom, didn’t I?”

Jack let out a short laugh. “Excuse me if I can’t handle animals in pain. And to be fair, I assumed shadowing the sheriff would be more exciting than this.” Jack pointed to the speed gun his father was holding. “We’ve been out here over an hour and nobody’s come by except for Crazy Carl.”

Tom looked out the window. “Don’t be so sure about that, son.” 

Jack tilted his head in confusion, then Tom pointed the gun at a passing turtle.

“Going a little fast there, buddy.”

Jack scrunched up his nose and scowled in annoyance. “ _ Dad _ .”

“You’re a little speed demon, aren’t you?”

Jack groaned. “You’re not funny, dad.”

Tom smiled. “Hey, my jokes aren’t that bad.”

“Literally 5 minutes ago you told Wade you were on a cruise ship in Barbados with Rihanna.” Jack pointed out. “Face it dad, your jokes suck.”

“Aw, come on.” He reached over and ruffled the boy’s hair. Jack swatted his dad’s hand away with a slight chuckle. 

Suddenly, something dashed by the car. The speed gun beeped, getting the pair’s attention. 

Jack whistled. “Jesus. 298 mph.”

“Language, young man.” Tom mumbled. “The hell?” He positioned the gun back where it was before. 

The culprit dashed past them again, but this time, Jack was able to catch a glimpse of it. There wasn’t much he could make out, but the one detail he could was enough to make it odd. Whatever it was, it was bright blue. A blur of blue.

“Dad, did you see that?” 

“See what?” Tom asked, looking back at the speed radar. “300. Maybe there is a speeder around here.”

Jack frowned at his father. “I think I saw what passed. I’m gonna check it out, okay?” 

“Don’t go too far and stay on the grass. I don’t want you getting hurt.” Tom told him in that fatherly tone Jack was accustomed to. 

Jack rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay.” 

Jack hopped out of the truck and walked down the road until he saw something that caught his eye. He bent down and picked it up. A blue quill. 

The teenager smirked. “Speak of the blue devil.” 

The teen was no stranger to hearing about the odd creature Crazy Carl would constantly rant about. His dad often came home with second-hand tales of what the creature did to the old man. Jack found the stories just as amusing as his father, but the difference between them was that he believed the town conspiracist. Jack loved the unexplained, so these stories only made him love Green Hills more.

It was the only stable home he’d ever known, after all.

“Come back, kiddo! Wade says that we’ve got a situation.” Tom called.

“Coming!” Jack carefully tucked the quill in his pocket and jogged back to the car. “So, what’s going on? Some middle schooler try to steal from the general store again?”

“Robbery at the bank, actually.” 

“Really?” Jack asked, sounding excited.

“Nah, a duck stole a bagel.” Wade, the deputy, laughed from the police radio. “The guy does need it back though.” 

Jack groaned and leaned back in his seat. Tom smiled at him. “Sorry, kiddo. Nothing ever happens in Green Hills, you know that.”

“On any other day that would be a good thing.” Jack huffed, pulling out a comic book from his backpack.

* * *

That duck stealing a bagel turned into helping said duck and her family cross the roads. That turned into getting Mrs. Porter’s cat out of a tree, which turned into helping Mary Wilson find her dog, which turned into helping Mr. Stevens find his glasses (they were on his head). They were all grateful, though. The residents of the town that they helped thanked them immensely. 

It was kind of nice, seeing their smiling faces. They even asked how he had been doing, which Jake was always grateful for. When he first arrived, he had assumed that they’d all shun him, it being a small town and all. Probably didn’t help that he had some major trust issues at that point. But, for the most part, he’d been welcomed with open arms. It made him feel even more loved than he already did with Maddie and Tom. 

For a second, Jack thought that they had some excitement in store when a public disturbance got called in, but it turned out to just be Crazy Carl raving about the Blue Devil at the local bar. Jack probably would’ve come in with his dad if it had been anywhere else. The bar had a sickeningly familiar smell that he knew all too well. It smelt just like his biological father’s, Randy’s, breath. There were other things that triggered him, this that caused worse side effects, but the smell was unpleasant to begin with anyways. 

Besides, his comic was probably slightly more interesting than hearing Crazy Carl rant about the Blue Devil for the millionth time. He sounded as crazy as that farmer in that Dean Brody song, and his ramblings were eerily similar. He once claimed that the Blue Devil made crop circles at the Zimmer farm. 

The teen watched him and his dad walk out the bar, Carl still ranting and raving. Jack already knew it, but Crazy Carl further proved that Tom had the patience of a saint. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack thought he saw the blue blur again. His suspicions were proven correct when Carl had another outburst. “Did you see that?! I told you, I told everyone!”

Tom sighed. “Carl, there’s nothing there.” 

Looking back, Jack had seen glimpses of the blur more throughout the day. He’d assumed that his mind was just playing tricks on him, or something, but maybe it had been real. Maybe it was the same thing that the speed gun was picking up. 

Oh well, no use thinking about it now. Tom was making his way to the car, which meant that they were probably heading home soon. He entertained asking dad what Carl claimed the Blue Devil did this time, but he decided some things were better left until later and went back to reading.

* * *

“Are you going to miss any of this?” Jack asked on the ride home, looking out the window.

“What do you mean?” Tom asked, voice gentle.

“Well, everyone loves you here.” Jack answered. “Our lives are good and stable, you know?”

“Our lives will be good in San Francisco too, kiddo.” Tom told him, a smile on his face. “You’ll see.”

Jack gave his dad a look, then nodded silently. Tom and Maddie told Jack about the possible move two months ago, when Tom applied to join the San Francisco Police Force. Jack had immediately disliked the idea, and had tried to tell them that. He had tried to explain why, but he was at a loss for words.

Jack thought he was done moving around. He had a home, a safe place that he loved. He had no idea how to explain how much that meant to him. Despite living with them for 3 years, he still hadn’t told them everything. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, he just didn’t want them to worry. He didn’t want to tell them about the late nights, the yelling, the bruises or the crippling rejection. 

Was Green Hills boring?

Yeah. It could be.

But it was where he belonged, where his  _ family _ belonged. They had built a home there, something Jack never thought he’d have. He didn’t want to start over again. He didn’t think he’d have to. That was why he’d been hoping,  _ praying _ , his dad didn’t get the job.

Did that make him a bad person? And if it did, did he even care?

“You think you’ve got enough material for your essay?” 

Jack tore away from his thoughts to look at his dad. He chuckled, trying to be upbeat. “Oh, yeah. I’ll tell them all about how we helped some ducks cross the street.” 

Tom smiled. “Your mom and I love you, kiddo. You know that, right?”

“Yeah.” Jack smiled genuinely. “I know, dad.”

* * *

When Jack hopped out of the car, a crash got his attention. He turned his attention to the trash cans, where he saw a couple raccoons. 

Jack sighed in annoyance. “Dad! The garbage bears are back!”

Tom groaned and shooed then away. “Get out of there! Get out– oh come  _ on _ !! GET OUTTA THERE! Get out of here, you trash pandas!”

“How do they keep getting into the trash? I swear to god, I put the lid on this time!” Jack huffed. 

“They’re raccoons, kiddo. They have tiny little hands. They’re trash burglars.” Tom explained, then added under his breath, “We should really invest in some pest control poisons.”

“Mom would kill you.” Jack said, flatly. 

“That’s why mom’s not going to know.” Tom told the teen as they walked into the house. They were immediately greeted by Ozzy, tail wagging a mile a minute. “Hey buddy!” Tom grinned, petting the dog. 

Jack smiled and scratched the retriever behind the ears. “Hey Ozzy.”

“There’s my boys.” 

The teen looked up to see his adoptive mother, smiling at them with a letter in hand.

Jack’s smile faltered at that.

“Is that what I think it is?” Tom asked, taking the letter from her.

“Uh-huh.” Maddie nodded excitedly. 

_ Well, shit, _ Jack thought. 

“Open it!” Maddie encouraged.

Tom looked it over. “It’s kinda small, is that bad?” 

“Maybe.” Jack said quickly. His hopes rose a little. 

Maddie and Tom seemed to take that as a joke. “Just open it!” Maddie told him. 

Tom opened the letter and read the contents aloud. “Dear Thomas, We have reviewed your application to the San Francisco Police Department, and pending intra-departmental review and background check, we are happy to inform you that you’ve been selected to inform our team!”

“Ahh! Oh my god!!” Maddie squealed.

Jack deflated, hopes dashed.  _ Fuck _ . 

Instead of saying that, he just forced a smile and lied through his teeth. “Yay!”

“Wow…” Tom said, obviously excited. 

Maddie squealed in excitement and hugged Tom. “I knew you could do it!” 

She then pulled out a cake and opened the box. Both Tom and Jack raised an eyebrow at the sight of an icing effigy of the Golden Gate Bridge on fire.

“‘San Francisco Sucks’.” Jack read.

_ You got that right _ , he thought. 

“Whoops! Wrong one! Just a second.” She put the cake back in the cupboard and unveiled another one, this one with icing art of Tom looking proud and sharp in a SFPD uniform along with a nice scrawl reading:  _ Congratulations on getting the job! I never had a doubt! _

“Ta-Da!”

Tom chuckled. “‘Never had a doubt’, huh?”

“Noooo, uhm mhmm!”

Jack began tuning them out and frowned. He was probably a bad person for silently hoping that his dad didn’t get the job. It was true that Jack had only lived in Green Hills for 4 years, but the place was home to him. 

After 7 years of moving from place to place, he finally had a breather. Green Hills was stable and safe. It was home. 

San Francisco was…. well, it had Aunt Rachel, and if that wasn’t bad, Jack didn’t know what was. He couldn’t just tell his parents that though. They looked so happy. He couldn’t let them down, so he decided to just stay quiet about it. It was easier that way. Old habits die hard after all. 

“Jack?” Maddie’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. 

“Yeah, mom? What’d you say?”

“I asked if you would be okay staying with your father for the next few days, while I look for apartments with Ozzy.”

“Oh, yeah. Sure. I’ll be fine.” Jack shrugged. 

Maddie studied him a bit more with a frown. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

“Yeah.” Jack nodded. 

“You know you can talk to us about anything, right?” Maddie told him, her voice gentle.

“Yeah I know, mom.”

That seemed to satisfy her. “Well, come on. Before I leave, we’re going to have a movie night. We’re watching  _ Speed _ .”

Jack grinned. “Sweet!” He rushed off to the living room and flopped down on the couch next to his dad. 

Tom grinned at him and ruffled his hair. “Pop Quiz, Hotshot! What’s your favourite movie?”

Jack snickered, playfully pushing his dad. “Joke all you want dad, Keanu is a national treasure.

“Play nice, boys.” Maddie came in carrying two bowls of popcorn, passing one to Jack and sitting on Tom’s other side so they could share. 

Ozzy pawed at Jack’s leg, looking up at him. “No, no. Mine.” The teen said, holding the bowl protectively. The pup whimpered and Jack relented. “Fine. One.” 

He tossed a piece over to the dog, who caught it in his mouth, seeming pleased with himself. 

“Good boy.”

Tom grinned, turned the movie on, then wrapped an arm around Maddie and Jack respectively as it began to play.

It was nice. 

Everything was as it should be. 

* * *

Jack woke up in the dead of the night to footsteps coming down to his basement bedroom. 

“Dad?” he groaned, rubbing sleep from his eyes. 

“Go back to sleep, buddy.” Tom whispered, flashlight in hand, going towards the fuse box.

“What happened? Is the power out?” Jack mumbled.

“For the entire town.”

Jack chuckled. “Wade must be losing his shit.”

Tom sighed. “I’m going to pretend that you didn’t say that, but yes. Don’t worry, he’s going to call Gil and everything’s going to be back to normal by tomorrow.”

“Good to know.” Jack hummed softly. He was about to go back to bed when something on the floor caught his eye. His jacket pocket was glowing. Jack sat up in bed, lazily grabbing his jacket and fumbled his way towards the pocket. He pulled out the quill from before out of his jacket pocket. It was glowing blue. “Woah.”

“Jack, what is that?” Tom asked warily.

“Just a quill I found in the grass today. Cool, right?” Jack held the quill up triumphantly.

Tom smiled, eying his son’s find thoughtfully for a few more seconds. “Alright, goodnight, bud.”

“Night, dad.” Jack mumbled, putting the quill back in his jacket pocket. The thing looked like some weird sci-fi shit. However, he still shrugged it off. 

He carelessly threw his jacket back on the floor, laid back down, and tried to go back to sleep.

* * *

The next day started out as a normal Saturday for Jack. He was in his bedroom, reading comics in his bed and listening to Queen on his headphones. The weekend was a time for him to just relax. He’d probably go see Wes later today, maybe talk about the inevitable move. Jack had mentioned it to him in passing once or twice, but he knew that they had to have a real talk about it sooner or later.

Oh well. It wasn’t like he had thought that they’d be friends forever. They would’ve drifted apart anyways. It just bothered Jack that somehow, even though he wasn’t in the system anymore, he was still managing to lose people.

Suddenly, a yell broke him out of his thoughts. Jack took off his headphones and put down the comic he was reading. “Dad?” He called upstairs. “Dad?!” 

The teen huffed in frustration and hurried up the stairs to the main floor. “Dad?! Where are you?”

“I’m in the garage!” He called back, sounding concerned. Jack rushed to where his dad’s voice was coming from.

“Dad?! What’s going on?” He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw it. 

A giant, blue…spiked creature of some sort.

With a bear tranquilizer in its leg.

“What the  _ hell?! _ ”


	2. Speak Of The Blue Devil

Jack stood there in utter shock, trying to assess the situation. He weighed his options on what to say. He finally took a deep breath and said “Is that mom’s tranq gun?”

Tom nodded. 

“Did…” Jack paused, still in shock. “Did you…?”

“Yeah, I shot him.” Tom answered, quickly.

Jack was quiet for a few seconds. He nodded, processing everything. He clenched and unclenched his fists. Then he snapped. “Why would you do that?!”

“It was an accident!” Tom practically yelped, holding his hands up in the air in defence. 

“You’re not even supposed to use that thing, dad! It’s a  _ bear _ tranquilizer!”

“I was just trying to scare the raccoons!”

Jack paused, dumbfounded, then gestured frantically to the unconscious creature. “Does this look like a raccoon to you?!”

“ _ Alright, ENOUGH! _ ” Tom yelled. 

Jack flinched. Seeing his mistake, Tom took in a deep breath, calming down. “Alright. Let’s just calm down and think about this, okay?” 

Jack gave him a little nod. 

“Okay. We don’t know what this thing is. It could be dangerous. So, you grab him– it, whatever, I’ll get the cage ready. Got it?”

“Got it.” Jack answered, quietly.

With that, Tom rushed off to grab Ozzy’s old dog cage and Jack went to pick up the small blue creature.

_ Wow. _ Jack thought.  _ He’s soft. _

The creature’s quills poked Jack’s hand when he tried to pick him up.

_ Ouch! Pokey too. _

Jack tried again, being more cautious this time. The creature looked oddly peaceful, knocked out like this. The teen couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor thing. It was just in the wrong place at the wrong time after all.

_ Then again, it could wake up and attack me at any second.  _ That thought was all it took for Jack to get anxious. As gently as he could, he rushed the creature inside. 

* * *

Jack anxiously fiddled with things in his pocket while they waited for the blue creature to wake up. It was taking too long. “What are we gonna do when he wakes up?”

“I don’t know.” Tom sighed, giving the teen an apologetic look. “Sorry I yelled, bud.” 

Jack shrugged. “I was yelling too. You don’t have to walk on eggshells cause of my stupid hang ups, dad. We’ve talked about…this…” Jack’s voice trailed off as his hand touched something in his pocket. His eyes widened slightly in realization.

“What? What is it, kiddo?”

Jack pulled the quill out of his pocket with a bit of a flourish. “Look familiar?”

Tom huffed in disbelief. “The Blue Devil.” 

He turned around and sighed, exasperated. Jack looked at his dad, worried. 

“Guess Carl isn’t so crazy, huh?” Jack tried.

Tom heaved out a sigh. “Guess not.”

“Donut Lord?” a new voice slurred out.

The two whipped around to find the creature out of the cage. 

“You forgot to lock the cage, dad.” Jack mustered, in shock.

“You talk.” Tom stated. “Wait. You’re not here to abduct us, are you?”

“You abducted  _ me _ !” the blue being protested.

“He’s got you there, dad.” Jack agreed.

Tom groaned. “Fair enough. What are you?”

“And why were you hiding out in our garage?” Jack asked.

“I needed somewhere safe,” the creature explained, still steadying themself against the cage. “And you were the only person I could think of, Donut Lord–”

Jack tried not to laugh. “Why do you keep calling him Donut Lord?”

“Because he talks to donuts. And then eats them when they get out of line.”

Jack was snickering at this point. “Oh, man. I guess this is why you tell me not to play with my food, huh, dad?” 

Tom gave Jack an annoyed look.

“Wait, wait, wait.” the smaller creature mumbled. “Where are all the mushrooms? Why am I still on earth?” He gasp-groaned suddenly. “Oh NO! I lost my rings!”

“What?” Tom asked in exasperation. 

Suddenly, the three heard cars pulling up. Jack tensed. “What’s happening?”

“Is this your mothership?” Tom asked before he raced to the window. “I’m not in the mood to get probed!”

“You think you’re worried? I’m not even wearing pants!” the creature fired back exasperatedly.

Jack shot his dad a concerned look and peaked through the curtains to see a giant black semi pulling up. “What the fuck?” he murmured.

Not a second later, he heard their house guest shriek and yank the curtains closed.

“Oh no, oh no! They’re coming for me!” The blue creature panicked.

“Who’s coming for you? What’s that got to do with us?” Tom asked.

“I don’t have time to explain, but you guys have to help me!”

“No, we don’t!” Tom contended, mind still racing at the sight of the strange truck.

While equally uneasy, Jack couldn’t help his curiosity. “Why?”

“Well, my legs, which normally would be classified as lethal weapons, feel like spaghetti.” He looked up at them, his vibrant green irises beseeching. “I need your help.  _ Please _ . It’s life or death.”

Something stirred inside Jack, like a memory long forgotten. It felt like a child was looking up at them, begging them for help. He knew that look. Tom knew that look. It was like the look he had given his father 4 years ago when they first met. Jack looked at his dad, who just looked concerned and intense. He had no idea what was going through his dad’s head. Jack shot his dad an urgent, pleading look.

Tom sighed. “Fine. Jack, take this thing–”

“Sonic.” the blue being cut in.

Tom paused. “Take Sonic up to the attic and hide. I’ll take care of these people.”

“Dad–”

“Jack, these guys might be dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Tom said, sternly. “Don’t worry, okay?”

Jack gave him a little nod. “Alright.” He turned to Sonic, giving him the most determined look he could muster. The corners of his mouth twitched upward, he just couldn’t help it. He kinda felt like an action hero.

“Come with me if you want to live.”

* * *

After watching Sonic faceplant into the carpet when he tried to follow on foot, Jack carried the little guy to the attic himself. 

“Okay, there you go. They won’t find you up here.” The teen told him as he set the other down. 

“Thanks.” Sonic mumbled, biting at his cheek nervously.

Jack kneeled down beside him and smiled, trying to comfort the small creature. “Don’t worry. My dad’s a cop. He knows better than to let someone inside without a warrant. You’ll be fine.”

Sonic only nodded in response. Jack sat down beside him, unsure of what to say. 

What do you say to comfort a blue alien creature? Hell, what do you say to one in general?

His hands went to the pocket of his hoodie, and they touched the quill again. His eyes lit up suddenly, knowing the perfect distraction.

“Do you have a nickname for me too?” 

Sonic looked at him in confusion. Jack smirked. “If my dad’s the Donut Lord, who am I?”

“You’re Comic Champ.” Sonic said almost immediately.

Jack laughed a little at that. “What? Why that?”

“You never go anywhere without at least one! They’re always in your bag, and you have the biggest library of them I’ve ever seen!” Sonic explained, waving his hands around in the air. “Uhhm, based on all the different ones I’ve seen you read, that is.”

Jack tried not to laugh. “Fair enough.”

“The only problem is that you read them too slow.”

“Excuse me, I do  _ not _ read slowly!”

“You do too!”

“Do not!”

“Do too!”

Jack smirked, and decided to steer their conversation in another direction. “Well, we’ve got a nickname for you too. You’re the Blue Devil, right?”

Sonic’s expression turned from playful to sort of sheepish. “Yeah. That’s me.”

“So, you’re the one that TPed Old Man Kilpatrick’s house?” Jack asked, “Cause Crazy Carl blamed you for that.” 

Sonic gave a sheepish smirk. “Guilty.”

“Nice.” 

Sonic looked up at him, eyes wide. Jack couldn’t help but laugh again. “Personally, I think he had it coming. He’s a real dumbass. Hates kids like nobody’s business.” 

Sonic beamed at him, grateful. Jack felt a bit of relief. Alien or not, he didn’t like seeing any kid sad. He gently punched Sonic’s shoulder. “It was about time somebody got back at him, you know?”

Sonic’s smile broadened for a second, then he suddenly looked afraid.

“What?” Jack asked, chuckling awkwardly. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of him trying to get back at you–” 

Jack stopped talking when Sonic pointed up to the ceiling and he saw it. A circular robot, flying in through the window. Jack’s eyes went wide.

“Holy shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so excited to continue this! I’m going to try to update this every weekend. I hope you guys liked this chapter! Please leave comments and kudos, it helps a lot!


	3. It All Goes to Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack tries to protect Sonic and meets a home invader.

_Okay. Stay calm,_ Jack thought to himself. _Think. What would Jack Traven do if a future Amazon Delivery drone gone horribly wrong flew into HIS attic?_

The teen was frozen in place, looking at the round, flying robot.

_That thing probably came from outside,_ Jack reasoned. Trying his best to stay calm, he took a quick glance at Sonic, who looked petrified. 

So, these drones were definitely here for Sonic, but who sent them? Mad scientists? Some millionaire huntsman? The government? Probably the government, seeing as these things looked new and untouched. 

“Comic Champ….”

Jack looked over at Sonic again, who was looking up at him anxiously. He looked so small, like a frightened child. It was practically screaming for the kid to do something, anything, to help him. Jack knew that look. 

Hell, he **invented** that look. 

Jack took in a deep breath to ease his nerves a bit. Then he whispered, “Hide.” Sonic did so in a flash, disguising himself as a ball. Jack blinked in shock for a second, then decided that it wasn’t the weirdest thing he’d ever seen in his life. 

He turned his attention back to the actual weirdest thing he’d ever laid eyes on, the robots. His head was filled with a million questions. Why would the government need something like this? And were these the only ones? How long had these things been in use? Did it track Sonic here? If so, how long had they been tracking him? And was this where their tax dollars were going?

The teen watched the robots carefully, not turning his back to them. He caught Sonic looking back at him again, and he forced a reassuring smile. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “It’s going to be alright.”

His eyes darted around the room. Maybe he could knock one of them out, or something like that. They might go after him then, but that was more of a 50-50 chance, right? They told Sonic that they’d protect him, so that was what was most important. He couldn’t let anything happen to him. He’d probably be _so_ grounded for putting himself in danger, but he didn’t have much other choice.

Before he could react properly, one of the robots came right up to him and started scanning. _Oh shit, oh shit. This is bad,_ Jack thought, on the verge of panicking. _It’s okay. I’m fine. It won’t attack me if I don’t have something they need, and it’s not like I’m holding Sonic. It’s cool, I’m fine._

Then Jack remembered. 

_Ah, fuck, I still have THE QUILL!_

Jack tried to stay calm, for Sonic’s sake. He locked eyes with him, seeing his panic. The hedgehog was so panicked that he was talking to himself.

“Don’t freak out, don’t freak out!” Sonic told himself.

_Oh, yeah, that helps,_ Jack thought, sarcastically. _Not like I might be blown to bits or anything._

The teen tried to be reassuring, keeping his voice low. “Calm down. It’s gonna be fine, it’s not that bad. Just stay–”

“I’m freaking out!” 

Suddenly, Sonic hopped out of his hiding spot, still curled up like a spiky bouncy ball. He rolled out onto the attic door, causing it to fall open. Jack watched in disbelief as the whole thing unfolded, eyes widening as he witnessed Sonic proceed to tumble out of the attic and down the stairs below. 

Ignoring the robot, the teen scrambled down the ladder to follow Sonic. He whipped his head around wildly for any sign of where little guy could have vanished as he entered the kitchen.

“Sonic? _Sonic_?!” he whispered frantically, before discovering two trash bandits chowing down on Tom’s celebratory cake. 

“Huh. More proof that San Francisco is trash.” Jack scoffed to himself. 

As he attempted to shoo the raccoons away, he heard quick footsteps fast approaching. He turned around to see his dad and a strange man he’d never seen before. 

Jack tensed up as soon as he saw him. His eyes seemed to stare him down, like a lion stalking a gazelle.

Tom frowned in disgust at the raccoons. “Care to join us for some cake, Doctor? I hear that raccoons have the cleanest mouths for animals who eat garbage.”

The Civil War-moustached man glared at Tom. “Here’s the thing. I’m never wrong.”

“Wrong about what?” Jack asked, nervously.

The man sneered, ignoring the teen. “Who is this? Why did you not inform me that there was another person residing in your home?”

Jack frowned, wrinkling his nose a bit. “Hey, I was–”

“Shut!”

“What did you just–?!”

“Up!” The older man sneered at him. “I won’t waste my time talking to a little delinquent country hick like yourself.”

Jack took a step back, flinching. 

“Don’t talk to my son like that!” Tom warned. 

“Please, a redneck country bumpkin like you can’t tell me what to do either!”

Jack stepped away from the two adults, trying to collect himself. This man (who was apparently some kind of twisted doctor) made his skin crawl. The way he snapped at him, it made him feel like a child again. The louder he got, the smaller Jack felt. And the way he talked down to him. It brought him back to the threats his biological father would make. 

_If you tell anyone, you’re dead._

_Who would believe you anyways? Children make up stories all the time, son._

_It would be so easy to make you brats disappear, you know that?_

His voice was still fresh in the teen’s mind, even more so now. Not to mention the gestures. The quick, aggressive nature was all too familiar. Pushing and shoving and grabbing and shaking. Jack still had nightmares about it sometimes. 

_How did this guy even get inside?_

His dad wouldn’t have forgotten to ask for a warrant, right? Of course not, he’s the sheriff for God’s sake. The guy must’ve forced his way in. Obviously he wasn’t your normal home invader, Tom would be more gentle with him. Probably the guy after Sonic. Jack looked the maniac up and down. He was dressed all in black like a Matrix reject. 

So he _was_ right.

It _was_ the government chasing Sonic. Christ, who **else** would wear a getup like that?

Then an awful, horrible little thought popped into Jack’s head. 

“So you were the one that sent the HAL 2001 drones up to the attic?!” Jack demanded. 

“What’s in our attic?” Tom asked. After not getting a response, he turned to Jack. “What exactly is in our attic?!”

The mysterious home invader touched his glasses, as if adjusting them. “Jack, is it?”

Jack stiffened. “How did you know my name?” 

“There are a lot of things a man like me can dig up. Like how you were a dirty little system stray. You were a little delinquent, right? Always running away, getting into trouble. No family would want a child such as yourself. Basically pleading your mother to take you back home. But no, she left you behind to start over anew. Not to mention the sorry fate of your poor sister–”

“That’s enough!” Tom bellowed, protectively getting in between the teen and the man. Jack’s eyes stung. 

There was one rule he had with Tom and Maddie. _Unless I bring it up, don’t talk about Liz._ He took a deep breath, trying not to panic. At least Tom interrupted before he said her name. 

“What’s in your pocket?”

“What?” Jack’s voice wavered a little. 

“Are you deaf? Empty your pockets!” the man roared. 

The teenager tensed. The quill was **_still_ **in his pocket. He couldn't take it out. He wasn’t about to prove this nut job right.

“Jack, don’t do it.” Tom told him. “You’re a minor, he can’t make you do anything you don’t want to.”

The man in black’s expression somehow soured even more. “If you don’t comply, I’ll be forced to take matters into my own hands.” he growled. “Empty. Your. Pockets.”

“No.” Jack snapped back, eyes still a bit misty.

That was when the man lunged for him, trying to empty his pockets himself. Jack flaked and tried pushing him off, but the man was older and taller and held his own against his attempts to get him away. The older man’s hands searching him, making memories come flooding back. Mostly of that terrible, horrible night. Being pushed into a cabinet, his head pounding. His mother hiding her face, protecting herself selfishly. Liz standing in front of him, trying to defend him, when Randy’s hands went for her throat–

Tom finally was able to pry the man off, and Jack fell against the side of the kitchen counter, sliding down to the floor.

“What the FUCK was that?! Don’t touch my son!” Tom growled in a voice Jack had never heard before.

The madman merely held up the swiped quill to the two, smirking like a braggart rubbing his victory trophy in the faces of his competition.

“Like I said, I’m never wrong. Note the lack of surprise?” the man sneered in a sickening sadistic gleeful way, before sharpening back into a snarl. “ _Shall we try this again?_ ” 

_Shit_. Jack thought, shaking a little. He couldn’t focus on the two men, and tried to calm down, eyes darting around the room. Then he saw it. Sonic was underneath the table, hiding from the man. 

_Why didn’t I think to look under the table?_

Jack snapped his head up to see the older man looming over him and staring his dad down, robot in tow.

“I’m going to give you both five _seconds_ to tell me where it is. Five.”

Jack looked up at his dad, eyes widening in fear. One of the drones from before was now downstairs, beside the home invader. If that thing was able to gather his history with a simple scan, there was no telling what kind of attack programs it had.

“Four.”

“I don’t know what you're talking about.”

“Dad…” Jack hissed nervously. 

“Hey, pal, I’m a cop. You’re threatening an officer.” Tom pulled out his badge. 

The man smirked. “How can you threaten someone who never existed? Three.”

“Get behind me, Jack. I’m not letting you get hurt.” Tom whispered, protectively standing in front of his son.

“Come on, wrack your brain! You might come up with a good excuse for you to go on living! In _Two_.”

Jack braced himself.

“ _On–_ ”

Suddenly, Sonic came out from under the table. “Wait! Don’t hurt them!”

What happened next would go down in Jack’s Top 10 Greatest Moments of His Life.

Robotnik’s eyes bulged from his skull as he let out the most emasculating scream Jack ever heard at the sight of the blue being. Then his dad punched the jerkoff in the face and knocked him unconscious in a single blow.

Unfortunately, this would then result in the drone going into automated attack mode on them. An occurrence of which firmly fell into Jack’s Top 30 Most Sucky Moments Ever.

Tom grabbed both Sonic and Jack and pushed them to the ground. The three crawled under the table.

“So, that’s what’s in our attic?” Tom asked, worriedly. 

“Yup.” 

The drone paused to reload, locking on the two humans. Jack stiffened up, preparing for the blow. Then he saw Sonic out of the corner of his eye. He was preparing to jump on the robot. Tom saw what Sonic was about to do and shook his head ‘no’.

However, hoping it would distract the drone, Jack gave Sonic a little nod. Sonic jumped on the drone, causing it to spin around and fire everywhere right as it started resuming fire. Tom ducked back low to the ground, pulling Jack’s down as well while shielding him with his own body time the best of his ability from his position.

“Can you believe Amazon was gonna deliver packages with these things?”

_I am never letting mom buy anything from Amazon ever again_. Jack promised himself and to God.

“This was a HORRIBLE plan! What was I thinking!?”

The robot kept spinning, the sounds making Jack tense. “Dad..”

“I’ve got you, Jack, you hear?” Tom assured the teenager. “I’ve got you.”

Jack felt a little safer at that. 

“I’m gonna puke!” Sonic yelped. The robot finally stopped spinning and flung the creature aside. It paused, probably reloading.

“Get to the truck. **Now**.” Tom demanded, going to grab Sonic. Jack scurried out of the house, practically falling onto the truck. He practically tore open the door, and jumped into the truck. Tom followed, shoving Sonic into Jack’s lap and hopping into the driver’s seat. He put the key in the ignition and just sped off. 

“Are you hurt?” Tom demanded. 

“Dad–”

“Are. You. Hurt?” Tom repeated, not taking his eyes off the road.

“Dad, he didn’t hurt me.” Jack said, still a little shaken up. 

“You’re sure?”

Jack nodded anxiously. 

“Good.”

* * *

As soon as they were far enough away from the house, Tom began questioning Sonic. “Ok, pal, you better start talking.” Tom said. “What are you?”

“I'm a hedgehog, I thought that was obvious.”

“…It's really not.” Jack interrupted. “I mean, I get the quills now, but did not guess hedgehog. Or any other known animal for that matter. Never would’ve guessed off the bat.”

“Well, that’s what I am, and also, I'm in deep trouble.”

“You're in trouble? You're not the one who just punched a government weirdo back there!” Tom exclaimed. 

“Which was awesome.” Jack chimes in.

“You think you have problems? I lost my rings!” Sonic shot back.

“Rings? What are you talking about?”

“Okay, rings are how all advanced cultures travel between worlds, and now _mine_ are stuck on top of a pyramid building I've only ever seen on your skin tight t-shirt.”

Despite being intrigued, Jack grimaced. “Gross, dude! That’s my _dad_ you’re talking to!”

The hedgehog ignored him. “So I need your help getting there so I can get back my rings and go to the mushroom planet.”

“...Mushroom planet. Mushroom planet.” Tom said in disbelief. Jack just stared at the creature in shock. Tom sighed and stopped the car. “Alright, pal. This is where we part ways.”

“What?! Dad!”

“I'm sorry, what?” Sonic asked.

“Look, this is the WORST possible time for me to get myself into trouble! Especially if it's secret government psychos that attack my son and nearly send him into a panic attack!” 

“It….wasn’t that bad?” Jack tried.

“Jack, that’s not going to work, I saw how you acted.” 

Jack shrugged. “I had to try.”

Tom continued. “You asked us to save your life, we saved your life. Now please, go find your rings, and your mushroom planet. Hopefully I'm gonna wake up in a hospital bed and the doctor's gonna tell me that my colonoscopy was a big success. Okay? So goodbye."

Jack groaned. “Christ, that's two for two on images of my dad I need to brain bleach away now.” 

Seeing where this was going, the teen opened the door for Sonic. 

“Oh, yeah, okay.” Sonic muttered. He got out of the truck and just stood there, looking at them. 

“...Why are you still here?”

“I don't know where San Francisco is.” the hedgehog said. 

“Oh well, it looks like we’re stuck with him.” Jack attempted.

“No.” Tom told him before turning back to Sonic. “It's West. Straight shot. Can't miss it.”

“Okay sure. I'm super okay saying goodbye now.”

Sonic ran off in a blue blur…only to come running back not more than a minute later soaking wet, with a small collection of sea life on his head.

“So. As I _crashed_ into the cold, dark, water of the Pacific — I realized a few things. A, I have no idea where I'm going. B, salt water _stings_. _C_ , I shouldn't even be _on_ this planet right now, but. I. AM! _Why?_ Because you _shot_ me!”

Tom sighed. “I know.”

“YOU _SHOT_ ME!”

“He’s got a point.” Jack agreed. 

“Alright, I heard you the first time.” Tom sighed. “You don't have to...pile it on, good grief.”

“I'm _wet_ , I'm _cold_ , there's a FISH ON MY HEAD! And _clearly_ I'm not going to be able to do this on my own!” Sonic continued to go off, but gave into his helplessness by the end.

Tom looked at Sonic warily.

The poor thing stared back pitifully, pouting almost as the fish slid down his drenched head and hit the asphalt with a _splat_.

“Dad, come on.” Jack whispered. “He needs you. Like I did.”

That did it. 

Tom groaned. “Alright, hop in.”

“Really?! You're gonna help me?” Sonic asked excitedly. He promptly shook himself dry, making his quills poof out. He looked kind of like Ozzy after a bath.

"I guess it is a little bit my fault you're in this mess." Tom conceded.

"Not a 'little bit', _entirely_. It is ENTIRELY your fault." Sonic shot back. 

"Yeah, yeah, it's entirely my fault. You coming or not?" Tom asked.

The blue hedgehog lit up. “Yes!”

After shaking his fur and quills back into place, he hopped back into the truck and into Jack’s lap.

"Road trip! Whoop WHOOP!!"

"What am I doing?" Tom sighed. He started the truck back up and resumed driving on the freeway. "Alright, there's gonna be some ground rules on this trip, you two. Rule #1, do EXACTLY as I say, all the time. Got it?"

“Yes, dad.”

"Got it, Donut Lord!"

"Can you STOP with the 'Donut Lord'!" Tom asked in exasperation.

“No, don’t stop. That nickname is glorious.”

“Right?”

“It’s so fitting.”

"Look I have an actual name, it's Tom. And the guy who's lap you’re sitting on is my son, Jack.” Tom said. 

“Tom the Donut Lord and Jack the Comic Champ! Woo!”

Jack chuckled at Sonic’s excitement. “Plus, the Blue Devil himself.”

“Right! This is going to be so great! I’ve never hung out with friends before!”

“And yet you’ve been spying on us for years?” Jack asked. 

Sonic leaned his head back to look at Jack. “Not spying. I wouldn’t call it spying. We were just all hanging out except I wasn’t invited and nobody knew I was there.”

Jack looked down at Sonic, then looked up. “Jesus Christ, it’s like looking back in time.

Tom lit up a little. “That brings me to rule number 2.” he smirked. “No swearing.” 

“Oh, come on!” Jack groaned.

“We have a very impressionable space hedgehog in this truck, Jack. No swearing.” Tom repeated.

“Fineeeeeeeeee.” Jack huffed. “Are those all of them?”

“For now.” Tom answered. Jack rolled his eyes at that. 

The truck was silent for a second. Tom broke it. “Are you sure you’re okay? I haven’t seen you that scared since–”

“Really, I’m okay! Just had some… flashbacks.” Jack frowned, drumming his fingers on the truck door.

Tom frowned. He ruffled the kid’s hair. That gesture had become a normal thing between them, through the years. A way to show ‘I’m here’ or ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘It’s okay’ without words. 

Jack caught Sonic looking at him, worried. Right. He’d seen his freak out. Before Jack could answer, Sonic went to the window, distracted.

"OH MY GOD, STOP THE CAR RIGHT NOW."

Tom jumped a mile in his seat. “What, what–!?"

"'The world's largest rubber band ball'?!” Sonic exclaimed. “We gotta see it!"

Tom pinches his nose in frustration, "No, no. No, this is not some fun family road trip, okay? They want to DISSECT you, and arrest me! This is serious!"

Sonic stared at him for a second, then ran off. He reappeared almost immediately, wearing a monogrammed baseball cap and with an armful of small rubber band balls, a mousepad with "I ❤ RUBBER BANDS", and a paddle ball. 

"Eh, you're right. It was lame. Gift shop was cool, though! I got you a mousepad. So when are we getting there?"

He began rapidly bouncing the paddle ball while Tom stared in disbelief. Jack laughed despite himself. 

This was going to be fun.


	4. Piston Pit-Stop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! It’s been a while! 
> 
> Sorry I’ve been gone so long, I had done family stuff to deal with. But I’m back with another chapter! I’ll try to post as frequently as I can now.

Jack was in awe of all Sonic had been through. During the ride, Sonic explained everything. Once you got him talking, he wouldn’t stop. He apparently used to live with a talking owl on his home planet. Her name was Longclaw, apparently. She protected him for years, until the echidnas attacked. Echidnas that Sonic had accidentally led to their home. 

That bit made Jack worry.

He went on to explain how he had got to earth using the rings and why he had to get to the mushroom planet. Jack’s concern continued to grow the more he heard of Sonic’s story. Being a kid, all alone, without a friend in the world? Jack definitely knew what that was like. 

Then again, he didn’t exactly know what to tell Sonic. Everything that others had told him way back when was unrealistic, and cliché. The only true thing for him was ‘things will get better’ and he remembered wanting to spit at the woman who said that. 

Then again, he hated his social worker. 

Jack opted to stay quiet. Maybe he’d figure out what to say to him later. It was always difficult for him to find the right words to say. He still struggled to talk about his feelings or show his appreciation for his parents. He usually found a way to squeak the right words out, it just took him a while. But, well, Sonic didn’t have a while and he didn’t want him to go to ‘the mushroom planet’, without some sort of kind words. Just sending him off just seemed cruel. 

Jack was brought out of his thoughts when the truck came to a stop at a gas station. “We're out of gas already, dad?” he asked.

“No, I just have to talk to Wade, okay?” Tom pointed to the pay phone beside the gas station. “I won’t take long.”

Sonic looked confused. “You’re going to talk to Wade in that glass thing? What, is it some sort of teleportation box?”

Tom shook his head. “It’s a payphone. It’s mostly for drug dealers or fugitives of the law. Which is us.”

“It’s also for runaways. Don’t forget those runaways.” Jack grinned. Tom frowned at him, unamused. Jack‘s smile faltered a little, and he added, “Kidding.”

Tom sighed. “Stay in the car you two, I’ll be right back.”

“Ugh, fine.” Sonic groaned, not picking up on the slight tension. 

Jack looked down at the hedgehog, changing the subject. “So, you’ve been here for 10 years, right?”

“Yeah.” Sonic looked at him so innocently, like a child. It probably would be easier to distract him, since there were no robots around this time. 

“How do you not know what a phone booth was?” Jack questioned.

“I dunno. I’ve never seen one before.” 

“How do you know what a donut is, then? Did you just see them on my dad’s dashboard?”

“No.” Sonic said, looking up at him. “I found one in the metal tins.”

“Metal...tins..” Jack pieced together what he was saying. “You mean the garbage? You ate out of our garbage?”

“Not just yours.” Sonic defended. 

“Are you really to blame for the mess with our trash, not the garbage bears?”Jack asked, curiously.

“Not always. I usually run off when I see them. They’re nasty.” Sonic scrunched up his face in disgust.

Jack let out a short, quick laugh. “Gremlins, the lot of them.” Sonic smiled back and looked out the window.

Jack frowned when he looked away and thought,  _ He had to eat from the garbage. How old is he anyways? _

Jack took in a breath. “Look, Sonic-”

“Wow!” 

Jack was cut off by Sonic gasping deeply, who had scrambled over to the other window and looking in awe. Jack looked over to see Sonic marveling at a building to the left of the gas station. Outside there were people doing motorbike tricks and setting things on fire. It had a large sign at the front that read ‘The Piston Pit’. 

And just looking at the kid, Jack knew that he adored all of it.

_ Well, fuck. How the hell am I going to get him to stay in here now? _

Jack huffed. “Sonic-”

“I know, I know. We have to wait for Donut Lord.” Sonic cut him off again, with a little groan. “Even though it looks awesome, and going in there would be so cool….” Sonic trailed off, then snapped back to reality. “No, no, we have to stay in the car and follow the rules!”

Jack was about to change the subject, but then he stopped himself short again. 

_ When this is over, he’s going to be all alone again, isn’t he? _ Jack thought.  _ He might never have a chance to do something like this ever again. I definitely would have another chance, but he won’t. Not to mention that he’s been literally eating garbage for the past 10 years. Would keeping him in here really be fair? _

Jack sighed, annoyed at the entire situation. “You know, Sonic, some rules are meant to be broken.” 

_ Like the no swearing rule. That’s a fucking dumb rule. _

Sonic looked up at Jack, hopefully. The teen continued. “Maybe if you had some sort of disguise…”

When Jack looked up again, Sonic was gone. Jack quickly got out of the truck, looking around in alarm. He spotted him by The Piston Pit, disguised in a cowboy hat, a red flannel shirt, and a pair of familiar looking sunglasses. Jack glanced over to his dad, still preoccupied. The teen huffed and rushed over to where Sonic was. “Did you steal my dad’s shades?”

“Borrowed.” Sonic corrected.

“Right.” Jack smirked, then scrunched up his nose a little. This place reeked of alcohol. It was definitely a bar. 

“Comic Champ?” Jack looked down to see Sonic looking up at him, with worried eyes. “Are you okay?”

Jack smiled a little. “I’m fine, really. Don’t worry about me, okay? Go inside. I’m right behind you.”

Sonic nodded and rushed in. Jack focused on the other stenches filling this dump. Gasoline, smoke, cheap chilli dogs. The combined scents masked the stench of cheap beer. He was fine.

It could be worse. 

It could be blood. 

Jack sighed and walked in.

* * *

It didn’t take too long for Tom to realize that they were gone. Jack caught his father’s gaze while he and Sonic were sitting at a table. To be frank, he looked pissed. 

_ Oh, shit. _

Jack smiled sheepishly when his dad marched up. Tom was more focussed on Sonic. He tapped the hedgehog on the shoulder, like a parent catching a child in the act. 

Sonic turned around and smiled up at Tom. “Howdy pard’ner!”

  
  


“I’m not your partner. We’re leaving.” Tom stated.

“What? Come on, can’t we stay? Please?” Sonic begged. “I won’t ask for anything or do anything for the rest of the trip!” 

“No.” Tom answered, frowning. 

A waitress passed them and spied Sonic. “Hey, no kids allowed in here! What’s he got on, some kind of mask?”

“He’s not a kid.” Tom said quickly. “He’s actually 43.”

“Yeah!” Jack chimed in. “He’s got a rare skin condition that stunts his growth. That’s also why he looks like that.”

“Hey, the face I was born with, but the confidence I picked up along the way!” Sonic boasted.

“And you?” The waitress motioned to Jack. “Are you old enough to be here?”

“Yup. But the only thing I suffer from is chronic baby face.” Jack lied through his teeth. “I’m a senior in college.” 

The waitress looked at him and shrugged, walking away. 

Tom turned to Jack. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, dad.” Jack sighed. “Don’t be mad at him, this was my idea.”

“What? Why would you suggest going in here? Doesn’t alcohol trigger you?”

“Well, I mean, yeah, but the smell is masked by other scents. The smoke, the gasoline, the cheap food…”

“That still doesn’t explain why you would come over here. I thought you knew better than that.”

Jack groaned. “Look, he can’t be older than me, okay? And when we get to San Francisco, we’re sending him to a mushroom planet, where he’s probably going to be alone. I just wanted to give him one last good memory. Besides, I’m finally doing something a normal kid does.”

“What are you talking about?” 

“I snuck into a bar.”

Tom looked at him in disbelief for a second. “Right, cause that’s something you really want to cross off your bucket list.”

“What’s a bucket list?” Sonic piped up.

Tom turned to look at Sonic. “A bucket list, it’s a list of things you want to do in your life before you…well, you kick the bucket.” He explained, begrudgingly.

Sonic lit up. “I’ve never kicked a bucket before either! I need to make my list!” 

Before either Tom or Jack could react, Sonic had swiped a notepad and pen from another waitress, and began writing things down. He stopped suddenly, looking upset.

“What’s the matter?” Tom asked, looking confused.

“There’s so much stuff I’ve never done, and now that I’m leaving Earth forever…” Sonic explained, dejected. “I guess I missed my chance.”

Jack took a glance at the bucket list. Despite some of the things being impossible (like running on the Great Wall of China), other things were actually pretty doable, especially here. Jack looked up and caught his dad glancing at the list. Tom looked over at Jack, and sighed.

“...Well, I guess this is the kinda place you can get a lot of living done in just a short amount of time.”

“Dad?” Jack asked, hopefully.

Tom nodded at the teenager. “I suppose we can spare an hour.”

Sonic grinned in excitement. “Whaaat? You’re gonna bucket list with me?”

“Sure. Why not?” Tom replied.

“You won’t regret this!” Sonic practically squealed in excitement. 

Tom sighed. “Oh, I’m pretty sure I will.”

* * *

“Okay, watch this.” Jack grinned, throwing a dart at the target. It landed just an inch from the middle. 

“Alright, that’s pretty good, kiddo.” Tom smiled. “Watch this.” Tom threw a dart at the target, with it landing in the middle.

Jack grinned, rolling his eyes at his father’s victory dance. “Nice, dad.” He glanced over at Sonic. “Come on, now you give it a shot.”

Sonic smirked, and grabbed the tin of darts. He began throwing them at a lightning speed, the darts hitting everywhere  **but** the target. Some of them even hit a few beers that a waitress was serving. 

Tom stood there, mouth agape. Jack chuckled despite himself. “Cool.”

* * *

The two humans watched from the sidelines as Sonic rode the mechanical bull. 

“You okay there?” Jack asked Sonic.

“Yeah!” Sonic replied. “Hey does this bull not have a head, or does it just have 2 butts?”

Jack groaned. “Please stop giving me mental images I need brain bleach for.”

Sonic laughed. “This is easy!” 

Tom smirked and added an extra coin to the machine, and put it at its highest difficulty level. 

“W-whoa, whoa!” Sonic stammered struggling to stay on the bull. Tom snickered at the sight, and Jack couldn’t help but laugh too. Sonic was thrown off the bull for a second, but got back on in the blink of an eye. 

“I’m okay!”

* * *

Jack and Sonic watched as Tom made basket after basket.

“Are you gonna try to do some?” Sonic asked Jack, bouncing up and down.

“Nah, I’m not good at sports. I doubt I could get one in.” 

“Yeah, you could.” Sonic insisted. “Just try it.”

“Fine.” Jack sighed. “I’ll ask my dad if I can use a-” the teenager was cut off when Sonic rolled up into a ball and landed in Jack’s arms. Jack smiled and threw the hedgehog into the basket. Sonic uncurled and sat on the hoop, using his legs to mimic a ball going through the hoop.

“Haha! New high score!”

Jack laughed. “Well, what do you know?” 

* * *

The three of them hit the dance floor, joining in with the other patrons. 

“Come on, Sonic, like this.” Jack demonstrated what the rest of the group was doing.

“Like this? Yippee-ki-yay!” Sonic asked, copying Jack’s dance, but accidentally bumping into a girl holding a drink. 

She turned around, and unluckily for Tom, he was the next thing she saw and she threw her drink in his face.

* * *

Jack and Sonic laughed as Tom tried to dry off his face. 

“Yeah, yeah, yuk it up you two.” Tom said with a little smile. 

“Smooth move, Romeo!” Sonic laughed.

Tom laughed mockingly, faking being annoyed. “Glad you two are having a good time.” 

“We  **are** having a good time!” Jack snickered.

“I’m having the best time!” Sonic exclaimed. “What could go wrong?”

Suddenly, a large figure came up and loomed over them. He was clearly a biker, and a literal giant. He had seafood crumbs in his beard and beer on his breath. He made Jack’s skin crawl. 

He looked like Randy. Just a bit.

“Can we help you?” Tom asked, keeping his eyes on the bikers.

“We don’t like your kind here.” He said gruffly, like an ape.

“Oh yeah?” Sonic shot back, “What kind is that?” 

“ _ Hipsters _ .” the biker snarled.

Sonic gasped. “How dare you?”

“Aw, hey, you know what? We were just leaving, weren't we boys?” Tom asked, Jack giving him a quick little nod. 

“Yeah, we can go. No problem.”

“Hey, wait, wait, wait, wait.” Sonic interrupted. “It’s okay.”

“No, no, no, no. We’re leaving.” Tom said, in a more commanding tone.

“I know exactly how to handle this situation.” Sonic explained. He stood up and grabbed a beer bottle. 

“Pop quiz, hotshot!” Sonic began. 

Jack would have done a spit take if he was drinking something.  _ Holy shit. Did….Did he just quote  _ **_Speed?_ **

Sonic continued. “You’ve just picked a fight with a poorly disguised hedgehog who’s seen way too many action movies. So what do you do?  _ What do you do? _ ” Sonic attempted to break the bottle over the man’s head, but it didn’t work. “Am I crazy or is it supposed to break?” Sonic tried a few more times. 

“Um, Sonic?” Jack asked as Tom tried to pull Sonic away.

The biker attempted to punch Sonic in the face. Sonic ducked, and Tom got punched in the face instead. 

That’s when all hell broke loose for the second time that day. Everything was flying everywhere. 

Beer bottles, chairs, fists, spit, screams. 

Jack jerked about, fearful, his guard higher than it had been in years. He couldn’t see his dad within the sea of people. Jack found himself ducking punches and throwing them, trying desperately to defend himself. It wasn’t the first scrape he’d been in, but he had never faced any adult before. One of the bigger bikers had him in a corner. Then, he caught Sonic’s eye. The hedgehog could see how desperate he looked. What came next was a blur. 

Literally, It was a bright blue blur. Suddenly, he was pushed away from the biker and ended up near the bar, with his dad not far behind. The room was filled with an electric blue whirlwind. Chaos followed wherever it went. One attacker ended up with mop buckets on both his feet and fell into the jukebox. Two others ended up mummified in toilet paper. One waiter had all the chilli dogs eaten off his plate. The instigator of the fight had a bear head put on him. Sonic stopped in front of him, using a napkin to mimic a bull fight. Jack caught a glimpse of the guy charging at sonic, only to end up crashing through the window. 

“Olé!” Sonic exclaimed. 

Jack gave a little half laugh. “Holy shit.”

“Jack, are you okay? Are you hurt?” Tom asked frantically.

“I’m fine.” Jack managed, reassuring his dad. “Just a little shaken. Nobody touched me. Government man scared me worse, and I've been in fights before, remember? Don’t worry.” 

Tom smiled in relief, and they turned around to see most of the patrons on the ground, moaning in pain. One of the mummified attackers tried to approach them, but fell to the ground after tripping over someone. 

Sonic zipped up to them, standing on the bar. “So should we get outta here?”

Tom nodded. “Yeah, time to leave.”

The three of them rushed out of the car like a group of outlaws. They shared a look and then belined for the truck. Sonic was still zipping all over the place. The hedgehog laughed. “That was amazing! Did we even pay our tab?  _ It doesn’t matter _ !”

Jack stifled a laugh. “Oh, wait, wait, wait! I’ve always wanted to try this!” Sonic practically squealed.

As Jack made it to the front seat, he watched Sonic slide over the hood of the truck. Jack situated Sonic comfortably in his lap again as the hedgehog swung in through the window, while Tom climbed into the front seat and started the engine. 

“Later, losers!” Jack called the patrons trying to chase them with a smirk. 

“Yeah, see ya, suckers!” Sonic called as Tom speeded away and onto the road. “I think they liked me!” 

As they got further away, the three laughed in unison over the adrenaline.

“Ouch!” Tom commented, touching his cheek where the biker hit him.

“He got you pretty good, huh, dad?” Jack chuckled.

“It’s alright, I’ve been hit harder.” Tom laughed.

“Did you guys see how much toilet paper I used?” Sonic asked, snickering. “The next person that uses that bathroom will have  _ nothing _ to wipe with!”

Jack laughed and ruffled Sonic’s quills. Sonic looked up at him, grinning. Jack caught his dad looking over, a gentle but pointed smile on his face. Just reminding Jack that Sonic couldn’t stay. Jack nodded at his dad to remind him that he knew, he wasn’t forgetting that.

He knew he shouldn’t get attached. But sonic was clearly a kid. And Jack had wished he had been given some sort of affection as a kid. Besides, when was Sonic going to have this much fun again?

Hell, when was  **he** going to have this much fun again?


	5. Starlight Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Sonic look at the stars. While doing so, Jack explains how he ended up with Tom and Maddie as parents.

It didn’t take long to find a motel to crash at for the night. They found a way to smuggle Sonic in by using a duffle bag Tom had in the back of the truck. Sonic complained the entire time, but it was a motel, so nobody really cared. They got a few odd looks, but nobody questioned anything. Mainly because motels were a lot like payphones.

Currently, Sonic was bouncing around in the room excitedly, still filled with energy. “The floors were sticky, the crowd was rough, and the odds were against us. But there was no stopping Donut Lord, Comic Champ and the Blue Blur!” Jack sat on the bed opposite to Sonic, while Tom got some ice for his cheek. 

“Scratch another one off my list!” Sonic exclaimed, flopping down on the bed. Jack had to withhold a snort as he saw the list item  _ ‘start a bar fight’ _ being the one crossed off.

Tom motioned towards the second ice pack in his hand to Jack. The teen shook his head, signalling he didn’t need it. He motioned towards Sonic. Tom sat down beside his son, and passed the ice pack to Sonic. “You are a weird little dude.”

Sonic took it, but looked unsure of what to do with it. Watching as Tom pressed his own ice pack to his cheek, Sonic copied him, still looking confused. Tom groaned in pain, and Sonic mimicked him, like a young child copying their parent. Sonic kept mimicking Tom until the cop gave the hedgehog a pointed look. 

“So! What are we doing next?” Sonic asked, excitedly.

Before Tom could answer, Jack interjected. “I have an idea. How about we go outside, look at the stars? Might be your last chance.”

“Okay!” Sonic beamed up at him. 

“Go on out there, I’ll be there in a second.” Jack told him. Sonic nodded and zipped outside. 

“Jack...” Tom whispered, warily.

“Dad, I just have some questions for him, okay? I’m fine, I’m not ‘getting attached’.” Jack defended. “I’m good at that, remember? It took nearly a year for me to ‘get attached’ to you and mom.”

“I was just going to say ‘be careful’, buddy.” Tom answered.

“Oh.” Jack relaxed a little. “I will.”

* * *

“You don’t get stars like this just anywhere.” Jack told Sonic, as they sat just outside. 

“They’re brighter in Green Hills.” Sonic observed. 

“You think?” Jack grinned. Sonic nodded.

“Everything’s brighter there.” Sonic told him, as if that was common knowledge. 

Jack sighed. Sonic wasn’t wrong there. “No arguments here.” Jack nudged Sonic. “At least you’ll still have stars on the mushroom planet, right?”

“Yeah. The constellations will probably be mushrooms though.” Sonic said, wrinkling up his nose. 

Jack laughed softly. He paused, looking at Sonic warily. “Hey, kiddo? How old are you?”

“13.” Sonic answered, simply. 

Jack’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “ _ What _ ?” 

“Well, the rotation of our planets are off, but I’ve been here for 10 years and I was 3 when I got here.” Sonic explained. 

Jack looked at Sonic, and then looked up at the stars again. “Holy shit, no wonder you remind me so much of me.” 

“What do you mean?” Sonic asked, looking up at Jack.

Jack hesitated, then took in a deep breath. “Well, you’re around the age I was when I was adopted by Maddie and Tom.” He explained. Jack felt a little awkward calling his parents by their first names out loud. He didn’t do that much anymore.

“Adopted?” Sonic asked, tilting his head to the left. 

“Well, it’s like…” Jack trailed off and paused, trying to find words. “You’ve been spying on my family for years, right?”

“Not spying, but uh-huh.”

“So, you know that I only started living with them 4 years ago?” Jack asked. Sonic nodded. “Well, that’s because I used to have a different family.”

Sonic’s ears perked up. “Another family?”

Jack smiled sadly. “Yeah. I had a mom, a dad, and an older sister. The only problem was that my dad wasn’t…a very nice person. He would come home reeking of beer and berate me and my sister. He insulted us and our mom. Sometimes he’d even throw things and try to hurt us.” Jack took in a deep breath. “Then one night, he came home super drunk. I’m not sure what I said or what I did. I think I was just being too loud. My dad came into my bedroom and tried to attack me. Liz, my sister, she tried to intervene and then he….” Jack trailed off.

_ Do not tell a child that your father choked your sister to death _ , he thought. 

“She died protecting me.” Jack opted. “And that was around the time the police showed up. They arrested him and took me away from my mom. I went into this thing called the foster system. That’s when they put kids with no parents with other families. Unfortunately, the families I was put with didn’t really like me. They were impatient and stopped trying after a few months. So I ended up running away from those families. I was labeled a delinquent, troublemaker, a problem child. The families just got rougher and I got angrier. I kept running away. This went on for about 7 years. And then, during one of my escape attempts, I ended up in Green Hills. Around that time, I met Tom. And I guess Tom felt bad for me, because he and Maddie ended up fostering me. It took awhile for me to trust them, but eventually I warmed up to them and they adopted me.” 

Sonic looked up at the stars again. “What’s that like?”

“What’s  _ what _ like?” 

“Being adopted.” Sonic clarified.

“Oh. Well…” Jack tried to find the right words. “It’s like...It’s like you’ve been running your whole life. You’ve never had a place that you belonged before. And sure, maybe you found a safe place for a while, but that place was never yours, not really. So you keep running. And then you find your real safe haven, but you don’t know it yet. You keep running, but you don’t go as far. Bit, by bit, you close the gap. And then you finally understand that it’s safe and it’s home and it’s wonderful. That’s when you finally stop running, because you don’t feel the need anymore, because you’re finally safe.”

There was a silence between the two boys for a while before Sonic piped up again.

“That must be a nice feeling.” he said. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get the chance to feel like that.”

Jack frowned and pulled Sonic into a side hug. “You will. I don’t know when, and I can’t promise that it’ll be soon, but you will get to stop running one day. I promise.”

Sonic smiled up. “Thanks, Jack.”

“No problem, kiddo.” Jack looked up back to the room. “We better head back. My dad’s probably worried by now.”

“Aw, do we have to?” Sonic asked. 

“Tell you what. You can do anything you can find to do in the hotel room.” Jack promised.

Sonic lit up. “Okay!” 

Sonic zipped back up to the hotel room in a flash. Jack chuckled and hurried back up to the room, shaking his head.

* * *

When Jack got back to the room, it was essentially trashed. Lamps turned over, toilet paper all over the room, and pictures gone crooked. Sonic was wearing a towel and had another towel wrapped on his head. The teen smirked.

“Looks like you’ve done everything you can in this room, kiddo.” Jack noted, flopping down beside his dad on the bed opposite to Sonic.

“Good times.” Sonic replied, smiling.

“So, what’s this next planet you’re supposed to go to like, anyways?” Tom asked in curiosity. 

“It’s no Earth, I’ll tell you that.” Sonic said, suddenly sad again. “Just clean air and mushrooms and stuff.”

“Well, think about it this way.” Tom said, “At least you won’t be the only fun-gi.”

Jack groaned immediately. “Dad,  _ no _ .”

“Don’t  _ EVER _ do that again.” Sonic said, very seriously. 

“I thought it was good.” Tom chuckled.

“I’m really gonna miss this place.” Sonic said. “I know I need to leave earth to be safe, but what if Longclaw was wrong? Maybe I could have a life here.”

Jack frowned, his brow furrowing in sympathy. Tom sighed. “Alright, we should get some sleep.”

“Sounds good, dad.” Jack answered, taking his hoodie off. 

“You guys sleep, don’t worry about me! I’m gonna stay up all night, enjoying earth while I can!” Sonic declared.

“Sure, kid. As long as we’re on the road by eight.” As soon as Tom finished that sentence and turned back around, the kid was out like a light. Jack picked up Sonic’s bucket list, looking it over. He noticed one uncrossed thing on the list. 

_ Make a real friend _

Jack picked up the pen on the nightstand and crossed it out for Sonic. He set the list back down and got under the covers. “Hey dad?”

“Yes, Jack?”

“Do you know how old Sonic is?”

“No, why?” 

“He’s 13. He told me tonight.”

Tom looks like he doesn’t know what to say. Jack continued. “He’s the same age I was when you guys took me in. I just thought you should know.” He paused and lied down. “Goodnight, dad.”

“Goodnight, Jack.” Tom answered, gently.

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! 
> 
> Just a note, future updates may be slow, I’m starting up online school this week. Love you guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was my favourite to write.


	6. Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just an insight on why chapter 6 is taking so long

Hey guys!   
  
Sorry that chapter 6 of this story has been taking so long. I promise I’m still working on the fic. I have a few reasons why chapter 6 is taking so long.

First of all, I’ve been working on a ton of scripts that are very dear and close to my heart. 4 of them, in fact. And they’re going to be turned into podcasts In the next year or so. As such, that’s been my top priority. But things are winding down on that front.  
  


Secondly, there’s been some technical difficulties on my end. But I promise to have chapter 6 out for you guys soon. I just wanna make sure it turns out really good.

While this goes on, I was wondering if you guys would want me to write some fun little oneshots that take place after the fic. That could fill the void of content while the technical stuff goes on.   
  
Let me know your thoughts!

See you all in the comments!   
  


-Benji


	7. 2 Fast and Furious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack, Sonic and Tom run into some.... car trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The brothers are back everybody! Sorry for the long wait, but I wanted to quickly assure you that I have absolutely zero plans on abandoning this fic. I just have college and podcasting scripts to work on as well so writing time is scarce.

Jack and Tom smuggled Sonic out of the motel the same way they smuggled him in. That duffle bag was becoming the real hero of this trip. The rural, small town surroundings that had followed the group for most of the trip was slowly turning into suburbia. It was subtle, but it still irked Jack a little. Now that they were getting close to their destination, the imminent move had begun to bother him. He felt like he was 13 again, on the run.

Was this how Sonic felt?

If it was, he didn’t show it. He was so excited, looking out of the window and excitedly talking away. It made Jack a little jealous, if he was completely honest. It would be nice to be a kid again, amazed at all that he saw.

“So, Comic Champ, what’s on your bucket list?”

“What?” Jack asked.

“Well, everyone has a bucket list, right?” Sonic asked.

“Well, yeah. I guess I haven’t really thought about it. I guess it’s not as important when you’re not leaving earth, and don’t plan on dying anytime soon.” Jack pointed out.

Sonic laughed. “Don’t be so sure. You guys now have a best friend who’s a magnet for danger!”

“Anointing yourself as the bestie?” Tom asked, amused. He looked over at Sonic. “A little presumptuous, don’t you think?” 

At Sonic’s frown, Tom continued. “No, I like you, of course, but we’re not best friends.”

“You tucked me in last night.” Sonic said, in a deadpan tone. 

_ Oh DID you now? _ Jack wondered, giving his dad a knowing look. For all his dad’s little reminders that Sonic wouldn’t be staying much longer, it sure seemed that he wasn’t alone when it came to getting attached. 

“Okay, okay, what about you, Comic Champ?” Sonic added after a beat. “Am I your best friend?”

“Well, we’re definitely friends, Sonic.” Jack answered. 

“Aren’t you close with the kid down the road from us, Jack?” Tom asked.

“Wes.” Jack answered quietly. “Yeah, I’d probably say he’s my best friend.”

“Is he though?” Tom asked. “Cause you know–”

“We aren’t having this conversation while there’s a child in the truck!” Jack interjected. He wasn’t ready to have this conversation. It probably wasn’t even worth having yet since he’d have to leave Wes behind. Besides, the last thing Jack wanted to do was have  _ that  _ talk while Sonic was present. 

Sonic didn’t dwell on it. “Best animal friend then.”

Jack smirked, he and his dad sharing a glance before speaking in unison, “That would be our dog, Ozzy.”

Sonic huffed. “Okay. Let’s drop this increasingly humiliating topic of conversation. Comic Champ, bucket list, go! Give it to me!”

Jack looked down at him. “Well, I guess the main thing is going to college. I really want to be an illustrator when I get older. Maybe draw comics.”

Sonic grinned. “That’s so cool!”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Jack smiled at the hedgehog. He glanced at his dad, who smiled back at him. “Okay, Dad. It’s your turn. What’s on your bucket list?”

“Well, there is one thing.” Tom began.

Jack’s smile faltered a little. He knew what that thing was far too well.

“In Green Hills, I’ve always felt like a babysitter more than a real cop. So I want a chance to prove myself. Real pressure. That’s why we’re moving to San Francisco, so I can become a street cop.”

Sonic looked at both of them mouth agape. 

“What?” Tom asked. “Why’s your face doing that?”

“You guys are leaving Green Hills?!” Sonic exclaimed.

Tom gave a resigned noise. “Okay–”

“B-But why?” Sonic asked, voice rising in disbelief. “Why would you leave Green Hills?!”

“Good question.” Jack muttered under his breath. 

“Look, I know this may be hard for you to understand, but Green Hills is a small town. It’s a very small town.” Tom reiterated to the hedgehog. Jack groaned internally, having heard this spiel multiple times before. 

“Uh, it’s not ‘small’! There are hundreds of people!” Sonic insisted.

“That’s a small town, dude!” 

“It’s a perfect town and the people  _ need _ you!”

“Please,” Tom scoffed. “I clean out their gutters, I jumpstart their cars in the winter, they can call anybody to do that.”

Sonic gave him a hard look. “Sure they can call anybody, but they don’t! They call  _ you _ !”

As Tom went quiet to consider his last statement, Sonic turned to Jack. “Were you in on this too? I thought you said you finally stopped running! You said that Green Hills was your home!” 

“Hey, this move wasn’t  _ my _ idea! I was more than happy to stay in Green Hills!” Jack told him, no longer caring about hiding how bitter he was about the whole thing.

Tom sighed. “Jack, we’ve talked about this.”

“And I said it sounded nice, but I didn’t really mean it! Green Hills isn’t a perfect town, but I love my life there!” Jack was surprised how easily the words were flowing. Everything he’d been thinking that was kept bottled up finally busting open from the metaphysical cork.

“Green Hills is your home, Donut Lord!” Sonic piped up. “Don’t you like it there?”

“Of course I–”

“You sure about that? Cause you seem pretty eager to ditch it and never look back.” Jack snapped.

Tom looked at Jack in disbelief. “That’s not– It’s not like that!”

“Really? Because you seem to be forgetting the fact that you didn’t think how it would affect everyone. You may have asked Mom’s thoughts, but did you ever ask me how  _ I _ felt? How long could you have agonized over this if  _ that _ didn’t come to mind?” Jack asked. “Or did you figure you could ditch me too?”

Several mixed emotions flashed across Tom’s face, but held his ground. “I had every intention of taking my family with me to San Francisco and that it was unanimous on all ends on going through with the move when I accepted the job. That includes  _ you _ , Jack. Don’t you dare try to imply that I would…or think that I wouldn’t take you into any consideration...”

Jack was taken aback by the distraught in his dad’s tone: both what was said and went unsaid. 

All at once the guilt corroded at him from the inside in revulsion at his actions. That was a low blow on his part and completely uncalled for, heat of the moment or not.

Tom wasn’t just one of the others, and he for damn sure wasn’t  **Him** .

Things had been so good for so long, for all three of them. Tom and Maddie were great and thanks to them, having happiness and stability in his life was no longer a pipe dream. Maybe they both forgot the fact that a big change like this could actually affect Jack more than most kids, no matter how much he overcame and healed from past wounds. 

...And maybe, Jack mused, he himself forgot how even saving graces like Tom and Maddie were still people who could make mistakes too.

Jack couldn’t exactly fault Tom for not understanding. He hadn’t exactly flat out said that he  _ didn’t  _ want to move prior to just seconds ago. It wasn’t until that moment that Jack realized the strong likelihood that neither Tom or Maddie picked up on any of his more passive objections. They were perceptive in many areas to his needs, but they weren’t mind readers. He should have been more direct from the beginning. 

The whole situation was a mess. A big, unfair mess that wasn’t wholly black or white, nor was the fault all on Tom.

Could his adoptive parent have handled it better? Yes, but ‘roads to hell were paved with good intentions’, or however the saying went.

Tom was trying. He and Maddie were the only parents who did. 

“–don’t get it! You’re not making any sense!” Sonic growled, snapping Jack out of his thoughts once again.

“Will you calm down?”

“You come from a great town with great people and by my count, no bad guys trying to kill you!” Sonic argued back. “And besides, what could be better than protecting the people you care about?”

Jack eyed his dad, trying to gauge what his dad’s current emotions and what was going through his head. Everything else going on around them, from the passing-by images of trees and road signs to the revving sounds of the other vehicles on the highway, all of it disappeared from Jack’s sight. There was only the three of them, this argument, and the wait for what his dad would say next.

Tom sighed at length. “Look, the thing is–”

Before Tom could finish his sentence, a harpoon came flying in the truck and hit the dashboard.

“Holy Fuck!” Jack exclaimed. 

The teen’s line of sight then followed the harpoon’s high density cable cord to its place of origin. Jack wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking at. The best he could describe it was if a Decepticon had taken the guise of a Cybertruck.   
  


Tom started swerving, trying to lose the tank connected to said harpoon via intermittently putting on the breaks, while Jack clung to the roof handle with one arm, bracing Sonic close with the other so the other didn’t go careening through the front windshield. 

“You know what, I was wrong about you.” Sonic suddenly snarled out, the most venomous the two Wachowskis ever heard him. “You’re not the Donut Lord! You’re more like the  _ jerk _ lord!”

“Have you noticed the  _ harpoon _ stuck in our dash?!” Tom snapped.

Sonic roughly removed Jack’s arm from his body while the teen was distracted looking in the rearview mirror at their attacker, squaring up to yell some more when Tom made another hard swerve, the truck abraded harshly against the side of a small steel girder bridge that wasn’t there before. Without Jack’s grip on him this time around, Sonic was sent flying forward out the open passenger window, only barely catching himself onto the hood of the car by the dashboard beam.

“Sonic!” Jack exclaimed.

“I was  _ forced _ from my home! Your home is perfect and you’re leaving it!” Sonic laid into them, accusing and angry and…pained? “Why would you  _ do _ that?!”

Bolt-like blue sparks began animating from Sonic’s quills and fur with growing intensity with each word, his eyes turning an electric blue. 

“Sonic!” Tom exclaimed. “Y-Your body!”

Sonic’s expression immediately turned fearful. Jack could just barely hear the hedgehog whisper, “No, no,  _ no _ , not again!”

“Hold on you two.” Tom said, sternly.

“Why?” Jack and Sonic asked.

“Because I’m about to do this.” Tom replied as he proceeded to slam down  _ hard _ on the brakes.

The force of it sent Sonic propelling off the Toyota. Instinctively, he curled up into a ball, still sparking as his momentum continued speeding him towards the tank. In a matter of seconds he struck the tank, the impacting force causing the enemy vehicle to completely flip over in an explosive crash.

Tom turned the truck around and assessed the damage. “Sonic!”

The two watched with bated breath as Sonic got up shakily in the distance.

Fortunately, he appeared to be okay all things considered. Sonic emerged to his feet steadily before taking in his surroundings and zipping about the destroyed tank excitedly, and...

...was he doing  _ the Floss  _ now?

“Oh yeah, baby! Sonic 1, big tank 0! Did we get that on video?” Sonic harrahed loudly with smug bravado.

“How are you not dead?” Jack heard his dad snark.

“I have no idea!” Sonic exclaimed. “Do you see me dancing?”

“We see you, kiddo.”

Sonic turned to the tank with a laugh. “Is that all you got?!”

Suddenly, an ominous voice came from the machinery. “ _ No, but thank you for asking. _ ” 

The bottom of the tank began to open up. 

“Uh oh.”

“Sonic! Get back in the truck!” Tom yelled.

“You go on ahead! I’ll catch up!” Sonic replied, causing Tom to turn the truck around and speed ahead. Jack opened the side door just as Sonic approached and jumped into his lap, closing the door behind him.

“I think that tank just had a baby.”

Jack checked the rearview mirror and sure enough, a second slightly smaller ATV-like vehicle dispensed itself from the first tank like the Nolanverse Batcycle from the Batmobile and resumed tailing them.

“Suddenly I don’t envy action heroes anymore.”

The enemy vehicle had its own tricks up its sleeve like the first. Part of its roof raised up and began firing disc-like artillery at the trio.

“Incoming!”

With careful quick-timing, Tom dodged the projectile. 

The same could not be said for the other maroon bystander van ahead of them.

From what Jack could make out of it, the disc latched onto the car from underneath and fired off a mild EMP that shorted out the car. To his relief, however, apart from a brief bout of spinning out of control onto the grassy shoulder, the vehicle (and hopefully its riders) were very little worse for wear as Tom drove past them.

Sonic took this opportunity to hop in the backseat and head to the back of the truck. “Where are you going?” 

“Just drive the car!” Sonic snapped at Tom. “I’ll take care of it. And if I don’t make it, just ditch me. You seem good at that.” 

Jack flinched at that, seeing his father’s face grow more concerned. 

Sonic couldn’t have meant that, not really. He’d been there, and he knew Tom knew that. The way Sonic lashed out was eerily similar to the way a Jack would lash out in the old days. Back when the trauma was still fresh and he didn’t trust anyone. He couldn’t really blame Sonic for lashing out.

Jack turned back in time to see Sonic jump off the back of the truck. As the evil ATV fired more discs, Sonic despatched them easily. Catching some to throw at others, even jumping onto two for an improvised boost and leverage for a more stylish parkour take down.

The final disc in hand, Sonic leaped atop the government attack vehicle and slapped it into the robot’s roof. He zipped back to the truck as another EMP went off, shutting it down and sending it off-road in a fiery explosion.

“That was so cool! Terrifying, but cool!” Jack exclaimed. 

“We did it!” Sonic cheered.

Suddenly, the phase two attack bot released its phase three form. By this point, Jack felt safe in deducing they were dealing with a matryoshka doll-esque scenario with this enemy weapon. This latest form was best described as if the T-7T was modified as a killer unicycle. It didn’t have the intimidating size of its predecessors’ forms, but that didn’t automatically make it less of a threat.

Smaller targets were harder to hit, after all.

“We  _ didn’t _ do it.” Sonic corrected himself dejectedly. “Who is this guy?”

Jack sighed. “That’s it, I’ve lost all faith in the government.”

“Hey, Jack?” Tom asked. 

“Yeah, dad?”

“Remember when I told you I’d teach you how to drive after you got your learners?”

“Yeah?”

“Consider this your first lesson. Take the wheel.” Tom said, slipping into the back. Jack hastily shuffled to the drivers side.

“It’s like you’re Vin Diesel!” Sonic laughed. 

“ _ ‘It’s all about family’, _ Sonic.” Jack chuckled weakly.

Tom opened the side door of the backseat and leaned out, trying to smash the robot with a metal rod.

“Jack, be careful!” Tom yelled, nearly falling out of the side door.

“Do you want us to live or to be careful, dad?!” Jack hollored back.

“Can you get us a little closer?” Tom yelled back. “Hit the brakes!”

Jack slammed his foot down on the first pedal he saw without thinking and the truck abruptly accelerated.

“Jack! The  _ other _ breaks!”

“Sorry!” Jack pressed down on the breaks, slowing the truck down just enough so that Tom could take out the robot. 

“Yes!” Jack laughed. “Can you take the wheel back?”

Tom and Jack shuffled back to their original places, Sonic breaking the tension once everyone was situated again.

“Next time, I wanna drive!”

“Sure.” Tom laughed.

Jack was less animated, but just as relieved in light of their victory. Boss battles typically had at least three phases, after all.

_ Looks like we’re finally in the clear. _

It was then Jack cursed himself for speaking too soon as the ‘whirrrrrr’ of rotor blades like a remote handheld drone approached his ears. 

The teen tensed as he spotted the source, yet another robot flying towards them, this one the smallest of them all and with the appearance of a miniature helicopter.

Sonic beamed. “Aw, this one is cute! Let’s keep him!”

No sooner had the words left his mouth did the robot activate a miniature laser weapon and began cutting into the steel body of the truck from under the window.

“Oh, come  _ on _ !” Tom groaned as it made its way across under the windshield.

“How can something that cute be so terrible?!” Sonic yelped, earning him a blink-and-you’d-miss-it dry look from Tom. 

As the mini menace rounded its way around the driver’s side with its laserbeam, Tom attempted to swat it away but to no avail. 

“You’ve got car insurance, right?” Sonic joked half-hearted.

Jack sighed. “Well there goes my college fund.”

The robot must have finished vivisecting the car at that moment because the car roof flew off, eliciting a scream from the trio. The tiny robot attempted to fly out in front of them to presumably do more damage, but Sonic snatched it out of the air in one fell swoop. 

“Buzz off.” he spat, tearing its helicopter-like wings off and Jack thought that was finally the end of that.

It was  _ not _ .

What remained of the tiny machine stuck itself to Sonic’s hand like a sticky bomb from  _ Metroid _ and started beeping.

_...Are you KIDDING me, government whackjob?! _

“That doesn’t sound good.” Sonic remarked waaaaaaay too casually.

“No, beeping is  _ bad _ ! Get rid of it!” Jack yelled. Any self-respecting movie and/or comic buff knew ominous beeping almost always meant something was about to blow.

Sonic swung and flailed his hand around. “I’m  _ trying! _ ” 

“Just throw it out the win–” Tom remembered that there was no window. “Throw it  _ anywhere _ !”

“I can’t get it off!” Sonic cried.

“Alright, I’m pulling over!” Tom announced, turning onto a field by the road. Sonic jumped out, and began zipping every which way trying to pull it off through various means from what Jack could determine from the blue blurred afterimages. 

A moment later, Sonic stopped moving faster than the human eye could track for Jack to see him whipping his head around in search of something, the bot now stuck on his forehead somehow. 

In the context of this happening in a video game, it was hilarious. However, now that they were faced with the scenario where there were no bonus lives or respawnability, Jack couldn’t remember why he ever found such a thing funny in the first place.

_ I never thought I’d ever have to think about how much I never want to see an IRL corpse launch. _

“Did I get it?” Sonic all but pleaded.

“Nope.” Tom said, motioning for Jack to stay behind him. 

Sonic screamed, frantically swatting at his face to get the robot’s final phase form (Jack fucking HOPED was the actual final one, at least) off of him. Tom came up to him with the bandana, seemingly scooping it up and throwing it into the distance.

Sonic watched. “It’s going, it’s going–”

“It’s still here!” Sonic and Jack said concurrently, deadpan and frenetically.

Tom flicked his hand about harshly as the beeping accelerated as its countdown grew closer to its end, visibly struggling both to remove it and not let the fear show on his face. Sonic removed the bot in a matter of seconds, darting a fair distance away from the two humans to nearby boulder. With the help of a stick, Sonic finally wrenched the device from his person and away from blowing up any living beings. 

Sonic whooped and turned back to face his two companions, hand raised as if requesting a congratulatory hi-five. “HA! Nailed it!”

The beeping swan song concluded with a severe detonation, the shockwave from the explosion knocking everybody back. Jack would swear the blast had sent him and his dad briefly airborne, but his impact with the ground was cushioned somewhat thanks to his dad’s protective instincts.

Jack groaned in pain, pulling himself upright and untangling himself from Tom’s hold. 

“Jack! Are you okay?!” Tom asked, worried.

“You’re the one who took the brunt of that vibe check into the ground, I should be asking you that.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, Jack.”

“Yeah, I’m okay, I just–” the teen stopped mid-sentence and gasped. “ _ Sonic _ !”

He rushed to the unconscious hedgehog’s side, fear in his eyes and willing his hands to not shake as he carefully turned Sonic over onto his back. “No, no, no, no, no! Come on, wake up!” 

Jack called out to him a few more times, but Sonic wouldn’t respond to his voice. He also wasn’t responding to anything else Jack did like shaking him gently or lightly tapping against his muzzle.

“Come on, come on! Stay with me, here!” Jack kept trying, his breathing picking up pace. “Please be okay, please be okay…”

_ Dumbass, of course he’s not okay,  _ his mind traitorously imputed. _ If he was, he’d be awake and on his feet just like you and your dad. _

Jack told his inner voice where to shove it. 

He poured his focus into checking over Sonic's still unmoving form (which itself was highly oxymoronic) for vital signs and any wounds, trying to keep his breathing level and straining to remember how his mom gave physical check-ups the few times he got to watch.

Breathing? Check.

Pulse? Check.

Wounds? Injuries?

Best he could tell, he didn't see anything more than a few superficial cuts and bruises anywhere else in addition to the lightly(?) singed fur on Sonic’s back. Nothing major.

Or...was it nothing  _ noticeably _ major?

Can you even TELL when someone has internal bleeding just by looking at them? What if there was a broken bone or more that he wasn’t able to detect? What was the safe way to look for smaller fractures again?

Jack wouldn’t be able to stand it if he ended up making the wrong move and was responsible for hurting Sonic more or worse.

He was a high schooler, not a doctor!

_ What do we do?! What CAN we do!? Just how do I fix this!?? Can things just go my way for once, please?? Like can I not have every good thing tak– _

“Jack.” His father’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts, causing Jack to let go of Sonic and face his father.

“I– Dad, he’s not waking up. And I don’t know if he’s just unconscious from the blast or what! I don’t know what to do! We gotta help him somehow, but it’s not like we can just waltz into a hospital with a blue hedgehog!” Jack rattled on frantically, choking on every other word from hyperventilating. “Is it even safe to move him? What if we can’t help him?! What if he–”

“Woah, hey. Easy, kiddo.” Tom said, calmly. “First you need to breathe. Remember what your therapist taught you? In for four.”

Jack took in a breath.

“Hold for eight.”

Jack did so, counting out to the number eight in his head.

“Out for four.”

Jack breathed out.

Jack repeated the steps a few more times, breathing deeply in and out per the instructions. In and out, in and out, the process getting easier bit by bit. The worry was still there, but the panic had lessened and his brain wasn’t screaming anymore.

“That’s it, there we go.” Tom praised softly. “How are we doing now? This feel better at all? Do you think you’re back in a state where it’s more manageable, at least?”

Jack nodded silently.

“Alright, do you mind if I touch you?”

Jack took a second, but shook his head. 

Tom reached out and pulled Jack into a hug. 

“I know this is hard and sudden and all sorts of things, but I hope you believe me when I say it’s going to be okay. We’re going to figure this out. I won’t let anything happen to either of you.”

Jack looked up at his dad helplessly. “What do we do?”

Tom exhaled hard, thinking over how to respond for a pause. Jack held his gaze for the longest, agonizing ten second wait it took before his dad gave his answer.

“We take him to Maddie. She’ll know what to do.” Tom said. “At the very least, she’s our best bet for knowing what to do.”

“Can we move him, you think?” Jack asked, still somewhat uncertain.

Tom took a moment to give a brief second once-over of their inert friend. 

He was no paramedic, but from what novice understanding he knew of first-aid (a combination of what was covered on the topic in basic training, additional first-hand pointers from his father when taking on the sheriff mantle from him, and the slightly more in-depth medical consultation Maddie had given him), Tom felt confident enough in his assessment that they wouldn’t be putting Sonic in any major risk by moving and carrying him to the car. A small silver lining, but it was something to help give the lawman  _ some _ peace of mind.

More importantly, it would bring some relief to his son’s worries too.

“I think we’re at least in the clear here, bud,” the sheriff answered, picking up Sonic gently as could be and handing him towards his son. “You got him?”

“Yes.” Jack didn’t hesitate, neither in his reply or in taking Sonic’s motionless form carefully into his hold from his dad.

He was certain of being able to do  _ that _ much.

“Right, right! Okay, let’s go!” Jack urged, shuffling back into the passenger seat as quickly as he could manage without jossling the unconscious hedgehog in his arms too much as they got back in the nigh-totaled Toyota.

“There’s just one problem.” Tom sighed as he fastened both their seat belts and turned the ignition.

“Whatever it is, I’ll deal with it. Let’s just go.” Jack insisted, briefly mulling over his dad’s grimaced words. “What... _ is _ the problem?”

“She’s at your aunt Rachel’s.”

Jack felt his blood curdle.

“... _ Fuck _ .”


End file.
